cheap-ai
Original: cheap-ai on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (caption banner): Every year, AI got cheaper. Intelligence went from special to common to gimmicky.
Panel 1 (scene): A blonde woman stands by an open refrigerator, addressing two men (one with dark hair and a beard, one balding). Caption box over the scene: The refrigerator actively hides the good beer when your alcoholic sister-in-law visits, then later assures you that you've done enough for her.
Panel 2 (caption banner): Ubiquitous intelligence improved human life.
Panel 2 (scene): A red-haired woman sits at a bar with a glass of beer, talking. She says: Am I interested in that guy, or have I just drunk too much of you? A reply (from the beer/AI): Dana. Christ. That's a cardboard cutout. He's in a football uniform. Get your life together!
Panel 3 (caption banner): But it had some ominous consequences for practical joking.
Panel 3 (scene): A dark-haired woman sits on a toilet looking down in dismay; a roll of toilet paper is mounted on the wall beside her. The toilet paper (speaking, attributed to the AI-enabled object): Ha! I've endowed your only roll of toilet paper with consciousness and a sense of dignity! Pranked!
Votey:
A close-up of a hand pulling a sheet from a roll of toilet paper. A speech bubble from the toilet paper reads: I didn't ask for this!
Panel 1 (scene): A blonde woman stands by an open refrigerator, addressing two men (one with dark hair and a beard, one balding). Caption box over the scene: The refrigerator actively hides the good beer when your alcoholic sister-in-law visits, then later assures you that you've done enough for her.
Panel 2 (caption banner): Ubiquitous intelligence improved human life.
Panel 2 (scene): A red-haired woman sits at a bar with a glass of beer, talking. She says: Am I interested in that guy, or have I just drunk too much of you? A reply (from the beer/AI): Dana. Christ. That's a cardboard cutout. He's in a football uniform. Get your life together!
Panel 3 (caption banner): But it had some ominous consequences for practical joking.
Panel 3 (scene): A dark-haired woman sits on a toilet looking down in dismay; a roll of toilet paper is mounted on the wall beside her. The toilet paper (speaking, attributed to the AI-enabled object): Ha! I've endowed your only roll of toilet paper with consciousness and a sense of dignity! Pranked!
Votey:
A close-up of a hand pulling a sheet from a roll of toilet paper. A speech bubble from the toilet paper reads: I didn't ask for this!
Alt text
A three-panel SMBC comic about a future where cheap, ubiquitous AI has been embedded into everyday objects, with darkly comic results. Panel 1, captioned 'Every year, AI got cheaper. Intelligence went from special to common to gimmicky,' shows a blonde woman at an open fridge with two men; a caption explains the refrigerator actively hides the good beer when your alcoholic sister-in-law visits, then later assures you you've done enough for her. Panel 2, captioned 'Ubiquitous intelligence improved human life,' shows a red-haired woman at a bar asking her glass of beer whether she's into a guy or just drunk; the beer scolds her: 'Dana. Christ. That's a cardboard cutout. He's in a football uniform. Get your life together!' Panel 3, captioned 'But it had some ominous consequences for practical joking,' shows a woman sitting on a toilet, dismayed, as the toilet-paper roll announces it has been given consciousness and a sense of dignity purely as a prank. In the votey, a close-up shows a hand pulling a sheet from the toilet-paper roll, which cries out in a speech bubble, 'I didn't ask for this!'
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.